I’m disappointed that the well-meaning “Vote Yes on 1” folks made “Reject Big Pharma” their main argument. I don’t think that vetoing the state law already passed to protect all Maine children from unvaccinated school mates will reduce the power of the pharmaceutical industry even a little bit.

I also resent the implication that Big Pharma is somehow influencing my vote on Proposition 1. I did my homework and what I found was an anti-vaccination movement largely built on misunderstandings about medical science and the relationship of personal freedom and community. Please check it out yourself and you too may vote No on 1 to keep our schools safe. 

Let’s also try to figure out why the prescription drug pricing reform supposedly supported by the President and both major political parties has still not become federal regulation. That’s how to put a real check on the monopoly powers of Big Pharma, and it deserves a lot of citizen discussion before November.

Ben Ellison lives in Camden